"My Hands Hurt"

Hunter has pitiful hands.

Part of the reason is that he sucks on his fingers a lot, and part of the reason is probably bug bites and other inexplicable skin issues that just come with the territory when you're in Haiti.

Every time I see his hands, I want them to be better, and I wonder if he is in pain. He doesn't seem to mind his hands being like that, but I can't tell. I feel so helpless because I don't really know what's wrong with them, and even if I did have a proper diagnosis, I wouldn't have the creams or the medicines to put on them.

• • •

I sat on a bench by the sea the other day and had a long talk with Jesus about it.

He said to me, "If Hunter looked up at you and said, 'hand hurt,' what would you do?"

I said, "I would move heaven and earth to find out what was wrong with his hands and obtain the necessary treatment for him."

He said, "What if he just looked at you with a beseeching grimace and a mute wringing of the hands to show you that they hurt?"

I said, "That would be quite enough to move me to action."

He replied, "And that's just how prayer is between you and me. You don't have to be eloquent or verbose. I understand what you mean, and I care, and I am able to move heaven and earth to answer you."

My heart swelled with gratitude, and the wonder of who the Savior is and what He does for us filled my soul with love.

• • •

He continued, "What would you do if your hands looked like that?"

I replied, "Well, I'm sure I would take action. I would make sure to be very careful and do whatever it took to help my hands to heal up."

Thoughts flooded my mind. Am I willing to do more for myself than for another, and is that revealing my selfishness? If I would do that for my hands, shouldn't I do whatever I can for Hunter's hands, instead of letting myself be paralyzed in inactivity and cluelessness? I wouldn't be quite so clueless when it came to my own hands. Where there's a will, there's a way, right?

I thought of the way one member of my body can affect all the other members. Then my mind jumped to the analogy of how believers are members of the body of Christ. Then I thought about how I have given my body to Christ, to be His body, to be used for His purposes. All this flashed through my mind in a split second, and then He spoke.

"When Hunter's hands hurt, my hands hurt."

Ah! The glory of it. Jesus cares about Hunter's hands. I can trust Jesus to take care of Hunter's hands in the same way He would take care of His own hands. He will take better care of Hunter's hands than I would take of my own hands. I might mess up, not have the right supplies, or not use the right treatment, even if I was giving myself the best care I possibly could. But Jesus will never be at a loss for wisdom or ability to take care of His hands. He loves Hunter. He might allow me to be His hands in caring for Hunter's hands. But I can trust Him to take the initiative in beginning a course of treatment.

He already has taken the initiative. He caused one little servant to notice and gave her a burden. That servant began to ask the Great Physician about treatment. As soon as she hears back, she will do whatever He tells her.

Nothing escapes His notice--not even one little abandoned boy's hands.  

See also: Hunter Update